The Water and Energy for Food (“WE4F”) challenge fund is a partnership between the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) (hereafter the partners). Through WE4F, the partners want to expand the scale of innovations that impact the sectors food and water, food and energy or all three sectors of the nexus (food, water, energy) to increase the sustainability of agricultural food value chains, improving energy and water efficiency as well as to improve climate resilient agriculture in developing countries and emerging markets in accordance with the SDGs, with a particular focus on the poor and women.

To achieve this goal, the effort must include partners from the private sector, NGOs, other research institutions, and other donors who share the common goal of increasing food production through sustainable water and energy usage. A key consideration of this effort is to ensure that feedback loops are created that integrate local conditions and new knowledge into both national and international policy and decision-making as well as to integrate capacity development, knowledge management and financial and non-financial instruments in a smart way to create an enabling environment in the partner countries.

USAID and its partners under WE4F seek to work with an organization or multiple organizations to manage WE4F Regional Innovations Hubs. Regional Innovations Hubs will “translate” WE4F conceptual frame and guidelines to region / locally specific calls and support mechanisms. The Regional Innovation Hubs provide both financial and non-financial support in the form of a financial brokering and technical assistance unit. Furthermore, the Regional Innovation Hubs will also identify potential new innovators and offer relevant support to both new and old innovators throughout and after the regional call process.

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